Christ With Us

 As you can probably tell from the long time between updates, we are living life at full steam in York!

The lockdown turned out to not be so locked down for us, after all. We took part in prayer meetings for pastors and ministry leaders across the city, and through that, we were able to connect with many different Christians. We had Zooms or took walks with them and got to know our new city. The people of York are so welcoming! They took the time to share the spiritual landscape (and social and historical landscapes; it was amazing!) with us so that we would know more about the place where we are investing our hearts. 

One of the most amazing things about York is the way that the church is expecting revival. It’s not just a far off dream; the pastors and leaders pray together about it regularly, and they are preparing for it. I took a walk with one pastor who prayed that we wouldn’t see it in fifty years, but that we would see revival in the next few years. I’ve never seen expectancy quite like this; it is teaching me how to be expectant for God to move in this city, as well. I read a quote from the revivalist Gypsy Smith about starting revival. He said to go into your prayer room and draw a circle around yourself, then to pray for God to start revival in that circle. How convicting! So I am praying now that God starts revival in my heart, and from me, outward to our city!

There are around 210,000 people in York. Of those, around 20,000 are Christians. While the churches here are active, there are still so many people to be reached! For Christmas, as a team, we have devised two different outreaches. The first one focuses on our neighbourhood, the Leeman Road area. This is an area that is deprived by York standards. Many of the homes are broken homes, and there are a lot of immigrants who live with a low income. We have amazing neighbours, Ruth and David, who go to a local church, and we have been doing evangelism with them through the weeks. One day, Ruth and I were talking about Christmas, and I mentioned cookie swaps and how I wished it was a normal year so that we could do one. She said that it probably wouldn’t work in Leeman Road, anyway, because you have to have quite a stable home to do things like bake cookies. Out of that comment was born the idea to make cookie decorating kits for the children of our neighbourhood. 

Yvonne baked all of the cookies and prepared icing, and we put everything together into COVID-friendly kits for the children. We then recorded a video of Yvonne demonstrating how to use the kits to decorate cookies. In between the steps, she tells the story of Jesus. Each kit has a sticker with a link to the video, so that when the children have the kit and their conversation with us is finished, the real conversation is only beginning. We began handing out the cookie kits this week as the local primary school let out, and we got to meet several children and their parents!

Our other outreach is focussed on the city centre and on meeting people as they are out and about doing their Christmas shopping. We are expanding on Renee’s Leadership and Urban Ministry Development project and setting up a Christmas Craft Corner for children in front of York Minster (the big cathedral for which York is famous). We had our first afternoon out today, and we met many children, and whilst they played with bubbles, we got to know their parents. One of the best bits of COVID has been that some people are more keen on being real, and they’re more willing to be honest in conversations than they were at this time last year, when they thought that they needed to have it all together. It’s as if being locked apart from each other has made us realise that we are all human and all allowed to have struggles. I love having those deep, sometimes raw conversations with people on the streets. 

We will be in York for Christmas - of course we will, we’ve only just gotten here! We are planning on attending church at the Minster on Christmas morning (we’re so excited). It’s also such a good opportunity to spend time with the people that we’ve met these past weeks who are also staying here for the holidays. Most people aren’t flooded with a thousand Christmas plans they are obligated to keep this year, which means that they are happy to spend time around a fire pit in the garden (we are only allowed to gather in groups outside at the moment) with neighbours. We spent a rainy Sunday afternoon (after we got to go to church in-person!) huddled round a fire pit with some of our new friends just this week. The fact that they stayed out in the downpour with us was incredible. What hearts for community! 

So anyway, I am going to go prepare for outreach tomorrow now, so thank you for reading this update! You can always follow along with what we are doing on Instagram or Facebook (@ywamyork), or pop me an email over at deborahestevenson@gmail.com. 

And now, here are some photos of our first weeks in York!

These first photos are just to set the scene of York for you:

Local outreach at our community centre and handing out cookies to the local school children/giving a flyer to every house in the neighbourhood!

City Centre outreach by the Minster - Kid's Corner!

Friends that we've made in York!

 the Nevards, the other four that complete YWAM York

We got to play at the park with Kiara, the youngest Nevard, and her sister, Savannah.

Vanessa, an amazing Christian woman who works at a church and with youth in York.

Ruth and David, our neighbours who have beautiful hearts for our community

Debbie, a homeless woman we've gotten to know

Laura and Gracie (the dog), friends from home group

Daily Life for the Team

Evangelism in the market 

Preparing the cookie decorating video

Worshiping in person!

Preparing the crafts for Kids Corner

And finally, happy Christmas from all of us here at YWAM York!

A Flooded Promise Land

We are in York!

I know, we are in as much shock as you are. 

Let me catch you up. 

England is in our second lockdown. That means that we can’t leave our houses unless we need to shop for essentials, go to school or work that can’t be done from home, or exercise. To be honest, this is already more lax than our first lockdown, which is amazing. We are even allowed to meet with one other person from our household as long as we are outside and stay two metres apart. 

We entered our second lockdown on Thursday. It is still possible to move house during lockdown, but it is not advised to use public transport, and it is unclear as to whether or not you can go between cities. On Monday, we found out that we had gotten a house in York. That is a miracle in itself, because the referencing company had rejected us due to insufficient income. But the landlady decided to go against that and to choose us anyway, and the letting agency let us know on Monday. That meant that we had two days to get to York before the lockdown. 

Raya, Yvonne and I were already packed, so with 18 hours notice, we left London for York. Our houses in London were already under quarantine due to illness in the team and the sheer number of COVID cases in London, so we didn’t get to say goodbye to anybody except for our housemates. While that is sad, we are also looking forward to a housewarming party when the lockdown is over on 2 December and they can travel up here! 

(A side note: we had been tested and were negative for COVID, which was a miracle in itself. God is so good to us.)

So now we are in York, and we have the essentials to get us through lockdown, but we have the new challenge of preparing a house in a time when shops are shut and it is much more difficult to buy things second hand. We are also raising all of the funds for furniture ourselves, because our house is unfurnished. There were also some hidden agency fees that amounted to £616 more than we expected. So if you would like to contribute to any of that, you can via my Paypal (deborahestevenson@gmail.com) or in the usual method through the base in Tyler, Texas. I can even give you my British bank account info, if you want to use Xoom or another, similar app to send money internationally directly to my bank account. 

Now that you’re caught up, let me gush about York.

First off, it is only by God that we are here, and right on time. We arrived 36 hours before the lockdown went into effect, which was the perfect amount of time to buy the essentials and to have some final meetings before we were all separated again. And now we have a month to prepare our house, to deep clean and organise the base building (which is a three-minute walk from the house), to research churches, charities and the like in York, and to prayer walk the city so that we get to know it before we dive into ministry. Also, everyone is old hat at Zoom and virtual church right now, so we will get to visit churches online and still take part in city-wide prayer meetings. 

All of that being said, there are a few prayer requests that we have. First off, Raya, Yvonne and I went from living with many friends to being just the three of us. We are all stepping into new roles that we don’t know how to fill, so would you pray for us in this way? Raya and I have no idea how to lead a base! We are very blessed to have Chris and Johanna, our Radiant leaders, walking with us through the season of transition, and YWAM York is being covered by YWAM London Radiant as we become our own charity here in York. Like I said before, we are also trying to raise funds for the furniture, etc that we need for our house here. It is not just a house for us, but it is also a home where we hope to host many who come to visit. We also have three team members who are not physically with us at the moment: Dave and Nicole Nevard are here in York, but locked down in their own home. We’ve waited so long to finally be with them, and now we are waiting some more! And Renee is in the process of getting her visa and coming from the States, but we are unsure of how lockdown will affect that process. 

Isn’t God amazing? He taught us to trust in His timing, and we got here one day later than we’d been planning, but right on time. He provided a house when it seemed humanly impossible - and thank you for praying for that with us. We have seen God provide, and your faithful prayers were definitely a part of that! We can only praise Him. And now we are trusting Him to use this month to begin setting roots and foundations for us here in the city to which He has brought us. We want to have dreams born in this time and to have our hearts set for what He wants in York. But more than that, we are just so, so thankful to be here in our flooded (rain upriver means that York is prone to flooding) Promise Land. 

From L-R: Me, Yvonne and Raya in front of our new house

The flooded city

This is normally a park by the base.

York Minster

A new headshot of me for our social media

Yvonne cleaning the windows in the base

we keep rolling

So do you want the good news first, or the more challenging news?

The good news is that Raya and Yvonne have arrived from the States! Actually, they arrived two weeks ago and have just completed their two-week quarantine. We have spent that two weeks learning different skills that we need for running a base (personnel, health-and-safety, visas, finances, and other exciting things) and praying and spending time together. It’s so different to actually have them here in the UK with me, and it’s really nice to finally be able to form a team in one place. And the best bit is that, when all systems are go for us to move to York, we are ready to head up there together!

That being said, we are still currently in London. While the details for moving to York are being hammered out, we keep hitting one roadblock: we need a house. We have currently unsuccessfully applied for two houses and viewed several others, and the problem lies in the amount of money that we make (or rather don’t) a year. On paper, we don’t seem like the most reliable tenants! Little do they know that actually, God faithfully provides for us, and we are amazing tenants who leave houses much better than we find them. Anyway, we need a house to live in, and right now, we are having to travel up to York and back to see each one. Not only is that not cost-convenient, but as our COVID restrictions ramp up again in the UK, it is harder and harder to do that.

So would you pray with us? It is difficult to be rejected for houses that we inevitably get our hopes up for getting. We know that God has a house for us, and we are asking Him to shut doors to houses that aren’t for us, but it is still a difficult process to live out. We are also currently self-isolating with our London housemates, since some of them are a bit under the weather, so that also makes it hard to look for houses in a different city.

We really need your prayers. We aren’t a usual case for tenants, and we need God’s favour as we apply for different houses. We need people to be willing to take a chance on us. Would you mind praying with us for this to happen? 

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. Hopefully, when next we meet, we will have good news to report. But even until then, we’ve seen God move all along in this process of us going to pioneer a team in York. We know He is faithful, and we know that He will provide us a house. And we thank Him already for how He has moved and how He is moving. 

Setting Dates

Autumn is raining down around me in London, and we have finally set a (semi-solid) date for moving to York: 11 October. 

Now that it is only two and a half weeks away, everything seems very real, and I have begun packing and trying to stop myself from getting rid of all of my clothing (a bad tendency that I have whilst packing, only to find myself without anything to wear come next spring). 

Everything is in progress right now, and if everything goes according to plan, the girls will receive their visas back (they have sent everything in and are just awaiting the passports with the visas to be returned to them) and join me in York in October. 

I went up to York earlier this week to look at houses, and we are in the process of putting an offer on one - it is quite complicated to do, since I do not make enough money (as you all know) to be accepted as a renter, and agencies are often nervous about accepting charities as guarantors. 

There are also the different elements of a cross-country move during a pandemic: our restrictions seem to change daily as infections “spike” here (I put spike in quotations because they are testing much more widely, so it is suspected that we aren’t having a spike so much as uncovering more of the infections that already existed), so we are all praying not to have to go into another national lockdown. Local areas have been put back into lockdown, as well, so we are also praying that York and London don’t go into lockdown in the intervening time. Not to mention that we have been restricted to only meeting up in groups of six, all hospitality businesses shut at 10 pm, and we have to wear masks, but we are still encouraged to go to work and school. And we have been warned that more strict restrictions could be introduced at any time!

As you may have guessed, it certainly isn’t comfortable to live in all of these “what-if”s. Nothing seems solid, and even putting a date to moving makes me nervous, because everything is changing so quickly. And through it all, God is asking me if I trust Him. He is telling me that I don’t need to have solid answers or even definite plans, because He knows how this is all going to go and He is preparing the way. This goes against all of my logic, but I want to do this God’s way, so. Here we go.

Raya, my co-leader, and I are also raising money for the furniture that we will need for our new house. Houses in York don’t seem to come with fridges, washer/dryers, or anything like that, not to mention furniture. We are starting from scratch, and that’s both exciting and expensive. If you’d like to contribute to our furniture search, you can do so through the usual channels, or you can Paypal me personally using deborahestevenson@gmail.com. 

I also wanted to introduce you to the girls that I will be living with in York, so that you can put faces to the names.

First up is Raya. She is the co-leader of YWAM York, and she is from Oregon. She loves to write, and she creates crazy games for us to play all together. She tells stories and has an infectious laugh.

Next is Yvonne. Yvonne is from Alabama, and she is a dancer. She is one of the best bakers that I know, and she is super intentional in her relationships with people.

Then we have Renee. Renee is from Massachusetts, and she is also a dancer. She asks deep questions and always seems to remember to look out for others. 

And finally, we have Dave and Nicole. They have been a part of YWAM York for ages (they did their DTSs there before I was in YWAM), and they will be staying on to be a part of our team! They live in a beautiful little house across the city with their two small daughters, Savannah and Kiara.

come to life

So, I guess it’s time for an update!

When I last left you, I was preparing to lead a team up to York for outreach.

I can now confirm that the outreach has been completed (and quite successfully, if I do say so myself!). I spent ten days in York, eight of which the team joined me for, and let me tell you, the base there does not look the same as it did before!

I have some before and after pictures of the time there, but let me take a second to sing the praises of the team. There were seven DTS students and five staff that came along (one staff, Lucas, came to teach me many of the practicalities of electricity and plumbing, God bless him), and they worked their bums off. And at night, after working all day, they were still keen to head into the city centre to prayer walk (and stop for ice creams). 

Most of what we did involved cleaning out the various rooms and cupboards on base that have stored the remnants of several different YWAM teams that have used the space. We also plastered, re-painted, fixed some electricity and lighting, oh, and built a shower in a cupboard. Yes. We built a whole shower. I have never been to B&Q (The British Home Depot) so many times in my life. I swear, the workers all knew me on sight by the final day. And, thanks to Lucas, I knew how to connect pipes and do grout and all the other fun details involved in plumbing in a shower. 

I don’t think God has called me to a life of plumbing. 

Anyway, the time in York gave me a taste for what is coming, and I really enjoyed getting to spend longer than a few hours in the city to which I will be moving soon. The people there are so friendly (the north of England is a bit like the American South in this) that just walking out the front door led to conversations with postal workers and neighbours and babies and dogs. It is a small city that is full of families and artists, and I am really excited to move there and to start meeting people and getting invested in ministry.

There are just a few obstacles in the way, which aren’t unexpected when one is re-pioneering.

The first is that we need to find a house to live in. I am currently sitting in my house in London, which is a two-hour train ride from York, which makes viewing a bit difficult. 

There are also several details to be ironed out within YWAM England which require prayer for wisdom and easy communication on everyone’s behalf. We’re all walking in untrodden territory, and boy am I learning a lot.

Lastly, the girls who are re-pioneering with me are still trying to start applying for visas. There’s the small issue of an on-going global pandemic and the need to quarantine when they arrive, as well, of course, as raising financial support for living here. Raya, my co-leader, is particularly struggling in this area. You guys have all been so faithful to support me in prayer and giving over the years, but I remember the fear of the early days when I didn’t know how I would pay staff fees every month. But God came through, and I know that He can do the same for her! Could you be praying for this along with me?

And finally, as much as I am planning for York, I am also still in London, and it is time for Arise. There is no Notting Hill Carnival this year, and we aren’t staying in churches and building crazy floats for the parade, but we are still hitting a different area of the city every day for evangelism. We kick it off tomorrow with a Notting Hill extravaganza, where we are planning on drumming and dancing with pois and walking on stilts. Who said that we couldn’t have fun in the time of COVID? But if you have a chance, would you mind praying for our safety and also for the hearts of people to be open to hear about Jesus over these next ten days? This is the most full-on thing that we do all year, and especially after six months of pandemic, it is shaping up to be both exciting and the tiniest bit exhausting. But it also feels good to be a little bit back to normal. We see people saved and lives healed during Arise, and I expect the same this year. Maybe even more-so, since people have had lots of time to listen to the Holy Spirit as He speaks to their hearts.

As always, thank you, thank you for the emails you’ve sent to me (deborahestevenson@gmail.com, if you’d like to send one my way!), for the messages sent on through my mum and grandparents, for the prayer, for the support. God is definitely on the move, both here and wherever you are. I can’t wait to see what comes out of this year!

on the road again

I’m going to cut to the chase, then go back to the details, if that’s all right with you.

In September, I am moving to York (north England) with three other women in order to re-pioneer the YWAM base there. We will be joined by a family that has been a part of YWAM York since their own DTSs.

As many of you will know, I moved to London eight years ago to join an arts team that eventually became YWAM London Radiant. I never put a time limit on how long I would be here. Instead, I said, “I’m here until God tells me to go elsewhere.”

Well, guess what. God’s called me to go elsewhere!

Late last year, my leaders here at Radiant asked me to pray about leading a team to re-pioneer the base in York. God gave me a strong “yes,” and my leaders and I prayed together and travelled to York a few times (my mother even visited it with me whilst she was here!), and we asked a few other people to consider coming along. They heard God’s “yes,” and also agreed to be a part of this new adventure!

So long story short, the three other ladies are in the States renewing visas and raising finances right now, and I am in London preparing to lead an outreach team up for a week at the end of July.  The York base has a building, a community centre that holds a small cafe and a dance studio/meeting room space, and we are going to spend a week cleaning and organising it to prepare for September. 

Over the next two months, I am also going to be going through a process (which has already begun) of learning the different things I need to know in order to lead a base - finances, data protection, communication, health and safety, etc, etc, etc. I’ve never done this before, and there are certainly a lot of things to learn! Luckily, my leaders at Radiant, Chris and Johanna, are walking with me through the process. They will continue to be my spiritual leaders when I move to York, and the York base is being re-pioneered by Radiant, so we will not be abandoned in any way. 

There are a lot of aspects of moving to York and re-pioneering the base that are large and could be a bit intimidating: we need to do some work in the base to prepare it for the activities that we will run for the community and for future training schools. We (by we, I mean the four of us ladies who are moving) also need to raise money for a deposit on a house for us to live in, which will probably be around £2,000. And of course, we need to come together as a team, to discern God’s vision and heart for both the city and for the base. 

This is a big transition for me, and you lot have been with me faithfully for the past eight years, so I am glad to finally be able to share it with you. A lot of the details are still up in the air (global pandemic, etc), but here are a few prayer points:

1. The visa offices are currently shut, and all three other ladies need to renew their visas to be in the UK. Please pray for the offices to open up and the girls to get their visas by September.
2. For the outreach that will go to York next week to prepare the base/get to know the area.
3. That I will meet the people, have the appointments, and receive the paperwork that I need as I prepare to move to York and the base.
4. For us to raise the finances that we need to put a deposit on a house to live in.
5. For the physical move from London to York.

If you have any questions about the move, you can email me at deborahestevenson@gmail.com. I am happy to share more with you about what is happening, or just to hear how you are doing or clarify anything I can.

Thank you all for your support, your prayers, your emails, and the way that you constantly surprise me. And thank you for being here as we transition from London to York!

a map of England including York and London (so you have an idea of the journey)

L-R - Renee, Nicole (who already lives in York with her husband and daughters), me, Raya. Yvonne, our fourth American lady, is not pictured.

York Minster at the end of a typical shopping street. It makes you want to come and visit, right?

A photo of York Minster grabbed from atop the medieval city walls (which you can walk round any time)

The tea shop where my mother and I had tea and scones

Inside the tea shop where we had tea and scones